Blackwater Triathlon Club had five members taking part in the Brosnan’s CentraFastnet Triathlon which took place inSchull on Saturday the 8th of June. Now in its 15th year, the Fastnet Triathlonis one of the longest established sprint distance triathlons in Ireland with a reputation for being among the best organised sprintevents in the country. The sprint distance eventis also part of the new Tri Munster League where a number of triathlons acrossMunster qualify for points in a separate competition. It is a favouritewith some of Ireland’s top triathletes whilst also being very encouraging ofthe beginner triathlete. The race started with a 750m swim in the shelteredharbour followed by a 21km cycle along a coastal route and a 5km out and backrun also following the shoreline.  BlackwaterTriathlon Club members Gina Lyons and Ann Lyons travelled down to west Cork forthe day and they were joined down there by Justin Ryan, Jonathan Kenneally andEileen Ryan. For all but Justin this was the first race of the season. Over 200athletes took part on the day.  Conditions on Saturday were very good, eventhough the rest of the country seemed to be suffering from wind and rain andgenerally unpleasant weather.  The sunwas shining and it stayed dry, although it did get a bit breezy. The race beganearlier than initially planned due to a local funeral taking place in thevicinity later in the day. The water was calm but quite cold, although itdidn’t take too long for the athletes to warm up. Once out of the water therewas a nasty little hill from the water to transition and on to the bike mountline. The bike route, while very pretty, was a little more challenging withlots and lots of hills with a nasty headwind on the route out, although it didassist the athletes on the return leg. Having completed the cycle thecompetitors were then faced with more hills on the 5km run. Justin, who is a Skibbereen native, hada super race on the day and placed 3rd overall, which was a fantastic achievementas a newcomer to triathlon. The men’s racewas won by Trevor Woods who was first in the 40-49 age group, followed byDonncha Kiely, who was first in the 30-39 age group and then Justin who wasfirst in the 20-29 age group. Clearly age is not a barrier for triathletes.Jonathan was next home of the BTC crew in 1:23:25, followed by Eileen in1:30:24, Gina in 1:33:39 and Ann in 1:42:33. The race was tough but verywell organized and everyone was delighted to have it ticked off. Definitely one to do again! Thanks also to theBTC support crew of Niamh Fleming, Julian Boeg, Eileen’s husband Sean andlittle Roseleen. Well done to the folks at Schull Triathlon Club and all who took part onthe day